Mo. ed leader lauds efforts to fix failing schools

Tram rides at monument subject of disagreement

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s top education official says she’s encouraged by the efforts of several groups to work on a long-term plan for unaccredited schools.

In a statement released Thursday, Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro highlighted the efforts of a group of school superintendents. They recently unveiled an alternative to a Missouri law that allows students to transfer from unaccredited to accredited districts.

Under the superintendents’ plan, students in struggling districts could transfer to better-performing schools in their home districts. And after five years of failure, districts could be dissolved and distributed to accredited districts.

Missouri’s Normandy, Riverview Gardens and Kansas City districts are currently unaccredited.

Nicastro says other groups also are discussing the issue of failing schools and that additional ideas are expected to surface in the coming weeks.